e of
twelve, the organ of the Convention and of the moderate part of it,
arrested several of the most violent agitators. On May 26, Robespierre
summoned the people of Paris against the traitorous deputies. Next day
they appeared, made their way into the Convention, and stated their
demands. The men were released, and the commission of twelve was
dissolved. But on the 28th the Assembly, ashamed of having yielded
tamely to a demonstration which was not overwhelming, renewed the
commission, by 279 votes to 239.

A more decisive action was now resolved upon, and the Jacobins
prepared what they called a moral insurrection. They desired to avoid
bloodshed, for the tenure by which the Revolutionary Tribunal existed
was that it prevented the shedding of blood otherwise than by legal
forms. The Girondins, after expulsion, could be left to the enjoyment
of all the securities of a trial by jury. Meanwhile, the Girondin
scheme of Constitution was dropped, and five new members were
appointed to draw up a new one; and on May 30, for the first time, a
president was taken from the deputies of the Mountain. On May 31 the
insurrectionary masses invaded the Assembly. There was no actual
violence, and no resistance. The Girondins did nothing to defend their
cause, and their commission of twelve was again dissolved. The
deputies remained uninjured; but Roland fled, and his wife was sent to
prison. Two days later, June 2, the victory of moral force was
completed. The Tuileries were surrounded with cannon, the deputies
were not permitted to go out, and some of the Girondins agreed to
resign their seats in order to prevent an outbreak. It was called a
voluntary ostracism.

In the extreme weakness of the party Lanjuinais alone spoke and acted
with courage and decision. Legendre went up to the Tribune while he
was speaking, and threatened to kill him. As Legendre was a butcher,
Lanjuinais replied, "First decree that I am a bullock." When Chabot,
who had been a Capuchin, reviled the fallen statesmen, Lanjuinais
exclaimed, "The ancients crowned their victims with flowers, and the
priest did not insult them." This brave man lived through it all,
lived to witness the destruction of his enemies, to be the elect of
many departments, and to preside over the Chamber that decreed the
downfall of Napoleon. At the last moment, an obscure supporter of the
Girondins saw Danton, and called on him to interfere to save the
Convention from violence. Danton an